Destined
by OneShaman1
Summary: A story about Eliza's and Ichigo's first meeting and their relationship through the time before they got together as a couple. Eliza, knowing Ichigo, felt a weird feeling around her while Ichigo, who was impressed by the familiar girl, felt the same way she did. Not knowing this feeling they try to find out what it means and why they felt it by being with each other. ElizaxIchigo.
1. First meeting (after years)

**Extended summary:**

A story between Ichigo and Eliza, two lovers who were destined to meet and love each other although being born in other ages. The story lead through the happenings of their relationship, from the first meeting in school to the day they finally became a couple. Eliza - who knows Ichigo since his early years - feels a weird feeling while being around him and always thinks of him since their first meeting after all the years. Ichigo - who is impressed by the familiar young woman who seems to be an all-rounder - feel exactly the same feeling while being with her and begin to like spend time with her. Living with these unfamiliar feelings they try to find out what these feelings mean and eventually get closer to each other...

**Bleach doesn't belongs to me. It belongs to Tite Kubo. Only Eliza is my own character. **

**Chapter 1**

**-First meeting (after years)-**

It was a memory, hidden in the depths of two hearts.

Two people, born to meet each other and spend their life with each other.

This is what it means to be soulmates.

At least, that stood everywhere, in every magazine and on the internet.

Eliza already had read a lot about this and was sick about this but she still hoped that she will find a soulmate.

She combed through her long brown hair and put it up into a high pony tail. She already was wearing the school uniform of the school she will attend.

Although she was initally taught things at home by Kisuke, her adoptive father (who she sees as her real father) but he wanted her to find some friends and get a glimpse of the real world so that's why he signed her in the Karakura High School. It was already some weeks after the start of the new school year but Kisuke said that this will be a more thrilling experience since she'll be the new, pretty cute girl in the class. And that didn't made her feel any better but she has to go it through. Kisuke made up that idea a week ago and immediately went with Eliza to the school to introduce her to the principal and sign her in.

She already knew the way to the school so Kisuke won't lead her there and made her embarrassed since he likes doing things like these only to see her embarrassed.

She was standing right in front of the mirror in her half modern and half old style Japanese room in the apartment which was behind the shop where Kisuke was working as a salesman of sweets from all over the world. Although he was working whenever he want to and still he was able to get a lot of money.

Eliza picked the gray skirt of the school uniform and looked if the red bow around the collar of the white shirt was rightly tied. She was nervous but she tried to hide it and she looked over to the clock on the desk. It was already half seven am, she should now hurry to go to the school. So she grabbed the bag and went out of her room, the little hall along and then into the primitive furnished living room with only the round table and a closet by the wall.

"Morning." she said instinctivelly although no one was there.

She wondered if Kisuke was still sleeping when she opened the shoji door towards the shop and found him sitting there and looking into some boxes.

"You're up?" She asked surprised and Kisuke looked around to her, raising one arm to pulling his hat up so his gray eyes could meet her purple ones.

"What do you mean with that? I can't miss my little girl's first day in an official school!" He said and acted hurt but a little smile spread on his lips.

Eliza only raised one eyebrow and looked amazed at him since he wasn't much od an early bird and hated to being woken up before 10 am.

She only tried to look into the boxes but Kisuke hid the content and she rolled with her eyes before she returned to the living room where Tessai appeared with breakfast on the tray he was holding.

"Good morning, Tessai-san." She said and smiled as she took the breakfast and took the chopsticks. She clasped her hands around them.

"Thank you for the meal."

It was a sign of gratefullness Kisuke taught her in the very beginning, when they were eating toghether the first time.

"_Since not everyone is able to get such a proper meal like we have then thank god for being able to eat the meal you have before yourself. This is showing that you are grateful for having such a good meal." _He said back then and since that day she was doing that by every meal she has.

"Just don't get too late for school." Kisuke said as he sat with her to eat breakfast together.

"Don't worry. Even if I'm late then I can use Shunpo." she said.

Shunpo was the way of shinigami shiftig and Eliza had already mastered it since it was one of the very first shinigami technique she learned. The other was Zanjutsu. Only Kido wasn't really hers since Kisuke said that it was probably because of her being not able to control her reiatsu to use it.

"Only don't get caught by it." Kisuke said and Eliza nodded. She knew that already and always watched out so no one will see her.

"Eliza-dono." Tessai appeared one more time behind her and she looked up to him.

"Yes, what is it?" She asked and Tessai reached a bento out to her.

"Here, for you."

Eliza looked surprised and grabbed the bento. She placed it into the school bag and grabebd the chopsticks again.

"Thank you very much." She said and smiled. Then she continued to eat the rice while Kisuke asked her if she's nervous and laughed as she glared at him. She then drunk the tea and took on her shoes as Kisuke reached her a plastic bag.

"What is this?" She asked as she reached her hand to it. She looked inside and found some sweets.

"These are German sweets. I heard they are really good and got some imported. Try the first ones." He said and Eliza made a grimace.

"Am I a guinea pig?" she asked.

"Not at all." Kisuke said and smiled as she put the plastic bag with sweets in her schoolbag and then she gave him a peck on the cheek before she went out and waved as she ran towards the main road. Since the Urahara Shop was in Mitsumiya, a district south of Gaukenchou, the district where the High School lies, it wasn't a far way.

She had twenty minutes until the school begins and she still has to go to the principal office so she would know in which grade she could get.

While quickly walking through the streets she still was amazed how quickly this town had changed. In the beginning, when Eliza was a little girl, the town was still in an older Japanese style.

She was born in the middle of the Meiji-Era, in october 10 1898. Since that day 105 years passed. She had also survived both World Wars although she didn't remembered much of it.

But back then the houses were in a much less modern style than now but still Eliza already got used to it. Just like Kisuke said that she has to get used to the quick changes. He also said that in the future there would be probably floating cars while Eliza wondered if he had watched too many Science Fiction movies.

She arrived at the school ground and stopped to run. She checked if her hair was all right and then went to the school building while she still saw some students outside. Some of them even were looking over to her. They probably thought that she was the new student for the first grade.

She went into the school building and made her way to the principal's office. Good thing she still remembered where it is and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

She opened the door and went inside. The principal looked up to her and raised one eyebrow.

"I'm Eliza Urahara, the new student." She said. The principal nodded.

"Right, right. You're here to hear about the grade you're in, right?" He asked and she nodded.

"Then wait a moment, please. I'll call your homeroom teacher, Misato Ochi."

As he said Eliza waited and the principal made a call. In the next moment a woman with brown hair tied in a pony tail on her neck, brown eyes and glasses walked inside.

"Excuse me, I heard I should pick up my new student." She said and the principal pointed to Eliza. Mistato Ochi looked around to her and as she saw Eliza she smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Misato Ochi, your new teacher."

"It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Eliza Urahara."

She shook the female teacher's hand and then Misato Ochi told her about her class.

"We may have some delinquents in our class, but they are all nice so don't worry about it, Urahara." She said. The teacher had to look up a bit when she wanted to look into Eliza's eyes. Eliza wasn't of the average height of an usual Japanese girl, after all she was around a half head taller than her teacher.

"I don't worry about this." Eliza said. Kisuke and Tessai taught her in her shinigami training the Art of Fighting so she would be able to take everyone down.

"That's good to hear. Well, then the class you're in is 1-3, it's on the second floor." She said. "Come, the first lesson has to begin soon. I'll show you the way to the classroom."

Misato Ochi went outside and Eliza followed her, closing the door of the principal's office.

"I hope you won't have any difficulties in your first day at school, Urahara." Misato Ochi said and Eliza nodded.

"I hope so, too. It's new for me since until now I have been a homeschooler." She said as they descended the stairs to the second floor. Then Ochi shoved the door to the classroom aside.

"Good morning!" She shouted and the other students sat down on their seats and replied the greeting of their teacher.

"Like you know we have a new student from today on." She looked over to Eliza who stood nervous by the door and also the gazes of the other students followed her. Eliza swallowed hardly to erase the nervousness and went towards the teacher, looking around the class. She nearly froze for a second when she recognized an orange haired boy among of them but didn't let it see. She stopped next to the teacher and bowed.

"Please introduce yourself." Ochi said and Eliza bowed before her new classmates.

"I'm Eliza Urahara, nice to meet you." She said and straighten again. She felt the gazes on her since through her training she was trained to feel it and it let her feel uncomfortable but she managed to ignore it.

Then she told them also that she was a homeschooler and Misato Ochi told her to take the empty seat in front of the one orange haired boy what made Eliza somehow shocked but then she made her way to the seat and sat down, kicking her school bag under her table. While Misato Ochi begun with the lesson Eliza was sunken deep in her memory, remembering the guy behind her.

It was Ichigo Kurosaki, the son of a shinigami and a Quincy. Although he didn't seemed to know it. Eliza was an acquaintance of his mother Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Shiba, just like Kisuke when she helped them with the case of Masaki suddenly getting a Hollow hole in her chest. Since then Eliza was in touch with Masaki for some time, until Ichigo was one year old. Then they lost contact and after eight years she learned that Masaki had died by a Hollow attack. But she hadn't saw Ichigo since he was one year old and was fascinated how much he had grown over the time.

She then returned from her memories, the picture of a baby Ichigo disappeared from her mind, and looked to Ochi and tried to concentrate on the lesson in modern Japanese. But her thoughts went over to Ichigo who was sitting behind her. For some time she felt how he looked at her and wondered what he was thinking by looking at her back.

**Editor's note:**

Because of some PM in which my reader asked how Eliza and Ichigo got together I decided to write the story about these both getting together.

I hope you liked the story so far and if you want then please leave a comment!

Oh, and I decided to change Eliza's last name into _Urahara_ since she's Kisuke's offical adoptive daughter :D

Besides, for those who have favorited and are following _A golden Soul_, thanks for 23 favorites and 12 followers, hope you'll like this story, too :)


	2. New friends

**Chapter 2**

**-New friends-**

In the first break between two lessons a girl approached her and Eliza looked up. It was a girl with burnt orange hair and gray eyes. She had a smiliar big chest like Eliza but was shorter than her.

"Good morning." She said and Eliza nodded.

"Uhm... good morning."

"I'm Orihime Inoue. Nice to meet you, Urahara-chan." She said and smiled, bowing in front of her.

"Nice to meet you, too, Orihime." She said. Eliza barely ever used any suffix since she only call someone with the suffix if she feels a huge respect towards that person – or when the person is the teacher like Ochi.

"Do you want to eat lunch together with me and my friends later?" Orihime and Eliza looked surprised at her but then a guy interfered.

"Wait, Orihime-chan!" He said. He had medium-long brown hair and brown eyes. "I want her to eat lunch with us!"

"You wish that she'll eat lunch with you guys, Keigo." A girl with black hair and brown eyes said and appeared next to Orihime.

"Oh, Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime said, looking at her.

"How do you want to know that?" Keigo asked and pouted. "Right?"

He looked around to Eliza who ironically smiled since she had expected everything – except of her classmates arguing with whom she should eat lunch.

"Actually I don't care with whom I will eat lunch." She said.

"See! She doesn't care about this." Keigo said and grinned. Tatsuki looked mad at him and clutched her hands to fists.

"I'll wipe that stupid grin out of your face." She hissed.

"Guys, we can solve it in an other way." Eliza said. "You shouldn't argue about something like that. I can eat lunch with the girls today and tomorrow with you and your friends, Keigo."

Keigo and Tatsuki stopped arguing and stared at her but they seemed to like the ides because of they nodded. Now that they weren't arguing anymore Eliza felt better since she hate conflicts. When Keigo wanted to ask her something Ochi again walked in and so they had to went back to their seats. Keigo looked somehow down, he probably was excited about having lunch with her although Eliza didn't understood why. Maybe he fell for her.

By that thought she fought against giggling and looked towards the teacher again, happy about making new friends.

In the lunch after the half day having lessons Eliza went with her new female friends outside into the schoolyard and sat down with them under the tree. While unpacking the bento Tessai made for her. The other girls looked at her bento and were surprised how colorful it was. Eliza noticed that Tessai also made hotdog sausages which looked like crabs. She smiled as she saw this and took out her chopsticks.

"I wondered." Begun Mahana and looked at Eliza. "Are you a yankee?"

The young woman stopped to eat for a second, looking puzzled at Mahana. Of course she knew what yankees were. In Japan yankees were those who are of mixed descent, like a child with the mixed appearance of a Japanese and American.

"Do I look like one?" She asked with curiousity.

"A little bit." Michiru said.

"No, I'm not a yankee. I'm fully Japanese." Eliza said and ate a bit of her bento. Then she looked over to Orihime who had a huge bread and red bean paste with her and was eating it. Eliza wondered if it really tasted this good like Orihime was eating it but she didn't really liked red bean paste. She was more into chocolate and Western sweets, just like these Kisuke had get imported from Germany.

"Oh, do you girls like sweets?" Eliza asked when she remembered that she still have got the sweets in her school bag.

"Yeah." The six girls around her replied and Eliza grabbed the plastic bag and showed the sweets to them.

"My father had them imported from Europe." She said. The girls grabbed curious the sweets and stuffed them into their mouths.

"Oh, they're delicious!" Orihime shouted and looked at them. "Can I have more?"

Eliza nodded and dropped the plastic bag in the middle of the group.

While they ate their lunch and the sweets and talked about some things, mostly over Eliza being a homeschooler before and still knowing so much things.

Eliza couldn't say that it was because she was taught by Kisuke since she was ten and she had experienced a lot of things. So she only said that she had studied a lot.

Then suddenly a shadow approached and she looked around. There was Keigo and Mizuiro, looking curious what the girls were eating and talking about.

"Hey, how about us joining in?" Keigo asked and grinned.

"Who did said that we want to see you here?" Tatsuki asked and Keigo looked offended while Mitsuiro sat down between Eliza and Ryo.

"Hey, Mitsuiro, you can't only sat down without saying anything!" Keigo said but Mizuiro only shrugged with his shoulders.

"I did it already." He said and looked into the plastic bag. "What is this?"

"European sweets." Mahana said and popped one in her mouth. "It's really good."

"Yes. Take one if you want." Eliza said and Mizurio grabbed one while Keigo still argued with Tatsuki about them coming over here.

But these two had lured Ichigo and Chad here who were looking for them and Eliza noticed how her body stiffened when she saw Ichigo. Her body temperature rose and she had a weird fuzzy feeling in her chest.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked and looked surprised at the both guys among the girls.

"Since we couldn't have lunch with the new girl we had to come here and join the girls." Keigo said.

"It was _your_ intention to get closer to Eliza-san, Keigo. Don't lie." Mizuiro said while Keigo turned deep red and the girls laughed. Since Ichigo and Chad also joined them although they didn't looked like they really wanted to do this Eliza gave them some space and Ichigo sat down next to her. She noticed the short glance he gave her and again she wondered what he thought about her. To let the awkward feeling disappear she pointed over to the sweets and looked at Ichigo.

"You want some? They're from abroad." She said and she noticed that she was talking more smoothly than she felt. Ichigo looked curious into the plastic bag.

"Is there any chocolate inside?" He asked and Eliza was surprised that he liked chocolate, too. But then she took a chocolate bar and gave it to him.

"Here."

As he took the chocolate bar from her hand their fingers touched for a moment and it was like an electric schock running through her body. She quickly took her hand away and listened to the conversation of her new friends.

Deep inside she was happy to have met so many new people in one day and get befriended with them. But she still wondered why she was feeling this weird being next to Ichigo. She never had the feeling before, when she was around him when he was a baby.

Furrowing the brows she then finished eating her lunch. Soon after the school bell rings and they had return to their classroom.

"Hey, Eliza-san." Said Mizuiro and she looked around as they were going towards the classroom.

"Yes, what is it?" She asked as the shorter boy caught up with her and then walked next to her.

"We all are making a trip to the beach for some days in the next vacation. Wanna come with us?" He asked.

"Watch out, Eliza-san. He's a womanizer." Said Keigo who appeared next to her, on the other side.

"I am not! I only like older women." Mizuiro said and Keigo looked ironically at him.

"Eliza-san is older than you."

"But not in the age range I like." Mizurio said and Eliza giggled.

"All right, all right. Where is the trip going to?" She asked while they finally reached their classroom.

"To Okinawa!" Said Orihime, who went behind them and looked really excited.

"Okinawa?" Eliza asked surprised. She hadn't been in Okinawa for some time by now. The last time around 25 years ago as Kisuke decided to go on a beach trip for the vacation. It was the most beautiful beach.

"Yes, Okinawa! Soon the vacation is beginning and so we decided to go to Okinawa for some days." Said Tatsuki. "Although it can be very exhausting with the guys."

"What do you mean with that?!" Shouted Keigo, looked offended at her. Tatsuki only made a grimace as she went to her seat.

The six-week vacation in july and august are going to begin in around one month but the guys were already excited. Eliza wondered why they actually had chosen Okinawa but since it's the right season to go to the beach it would be good. Although Okinawa was more than 2000 km away from Karakura Town and they would have to use the plane to get over. Eliza wondered who would buy the plane tickets and book the rooms in the hotels when Orihime told her that the hotel rooms were already booked, Eliza would only have to buy a flight ticket.

"All right." She said. She knew that Kisuke wouldn't have anything against going to Okinawa with her new friends but he still would get worried about his _little girl_.

Eliza noticed herself getting excited to go to the trip. Although she wondered if Ichigo was coming, too. She found herself wanting him to come, too, even when she knew why she wanted him to come with them.

Again shocked by these unfamiliar feelings she watched their teacher coming into the room and closing the door behind herself.


	3. Walking home together

**Chapter 3**

**-Walking home together-**

Ever since the new female student came into the class Ichigo couldn't do anything other than look at the back in front of him and the long brown hair tied up to a high pony tail.

The first time he looked at her he noticed that she was familiar, like he already saw her somewhere. But he couldn't remember where he had saw Eliza before.

Now he found himself wondering about the weird feeling in his chest by looking at her back.

She was indeed beautiful, one of the most beautiful women he saw ever in his life. And he somehow was happy that she had decided to come to the trip in the first week of vacation to Okinawa although he couldn't explain why he did feel like this.

He had never had any interest in women like any other normal boy in his age. But this woman in front of him was gaining his attention even when he didn't noticed it himself. He automatically was looking over to her and found himself being happy seeing her smile.

In the last lesson he tried to not look at her although it was really difficult. He was amazed by her ability to gain so quickly new friends. He had already got befriended with the girls and Keigo and Mizuiro.

Soon as the school day had ended Ichigo grabbed his school bag and went out of the classroom before Keigo and Mizuiro would follow him to go with him home.

While he walked through the street he remembered that he had took a toy plane which was lying around in his closet to give it to the poor little boy who had died in an accident and now was a ghost lost around the place he died. Ichigo went into the alley which would lead him to the place where the little boy had died and he took out the toy plane to give it to that boy.

But when he reached the place the boy had died he froze on the spot.

There was the little guy, rubbing his eyes while crying but right before him was kneeling Eliza, patting his head and smiling softly at him.

"I know it's hard to be dead but everyone is going to die. Besides, if you will ascend to heaven you can see your parents again." She said to comfort the boy. The boy nodded but he still cried so he put her arms around him and pulled him to her chest, stroking over his head. It was like the gesture of a mother and Ichigo remembered that his mother used to comfort him like that, too, when he was little and grazed his knee or got a nightmare.

That gesture of Eliza towards the boy awoke a memory of his mother inside of him and he found himself getting uncomfortable and was about to leave when Eliza raised her head and spotted him.

"Oh, Ichigo." she said and noticed him looking at the boy. Ichigo wanted to ask her first if she really was able to see ghosts like he did, too.

The ghost boy looked up to him and rubbed his tear stained eyes.

"It's you." He said. He seemed to remember Ichigo from the other day, when he first encountered him. Back then Ichigo had put down a bottle of water with a flower inside for him and the boy told him that he's lonely and bored since no one could see him and there were no other ghosts around.

"You said the other day that you're lonely and bored, right? I found this plane toy in my room. Here, you can have it." He said and gave him the toy plane. The little boy took the toy plane and looked really surprised at it.

"Thank you." He said and smiled while he played with the toy. In the time Eliza straighten up and stroke back the hair out of her face.

"So you're able to see them, too?" Ichigo asked and looked over to her. It made him feel weird looking at her and he tried to hide it.

"Yes." She said. "But you're able to see them, too."

"Since when are you able to see them?" Ichigo asked. He was really curious about her being able to see ghosts since he only know that Karin can see them and not anyone other.

"As long as I can remember. When I was little I was always afraid of them but my father comforted that they won't do anything." She said.

"So your father can see them, too?" Ichigo asked and Eliza nodded.

"Yes, he can." She said. For Ichigo it was a miracle to find anyone other than himself and his little sister who can see ghosts. He always thought that he's the only one who can speak with them and touch them.

Eliza bent down and grabbed her school bag and both then walked towards the main street again with an awkward silence.

"Are you going to the trip to Okinawa, too?" Eliza asked and looked then up to him. Ichigo stared down at her and nodded.

"Yes, I'm going to the trip, too. I don't think I will be able to get through the vacation with my stupid dad fighting with me."

He remembered how Isshin attacked him the day before for coming too late for dinner. The both were then battling themselves in the living room while Yuzu tried to stop them so they would eat dinner. But Ichigo had lost the appetite and went up to his room.

Eliza giggled as she heard that and Ichigo found that sound adorable.

They both then reached the main street and stopped on the traffic light.

"By the way, where are you living?" Asked Eliza and looked up to the orange haired guy next to her.

"In Minamikawase." Ichigo replied.

"So we can go some way together." She said and smiled. "Only if you want, of course."

"No, it's all right." Ichigo said and still thought over her as adorable while watching her smile. "Are you living there, too?"

"No, I'm living in Mitsumiya. So I don't have very far to school." She replied and looked over to the traffic lights.

Ichigo found himself getting nervous although he couldn't understand why. He wanted to talk to her to find out more about her but he was too shy to do so. Confused by these feelings he finally figured out what he should talk about with her, until they would reach Mitsumiya it was quite some time so he thought over a good question but Eliza was faster with asking than him.

"Are you alright, Ichigo?" Eliza lean forward a bit and peeked in his face, looking slightly worried.

"Y... yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You spaced out and furrowed your brows more." Eliza replied and Ichigo didn't noticed he already passed the traffic lights. His body probably moved in sync with Eliza's as she went on.

"Oh, well, I was thinking about... how to avoid my father today." Ichigo lied since he didn't wanted to tell her that he thought what to ask her.

"Is your father really this bad?" She wondered which caused Ichigo to furrow his brows more, surprised by the question.

"Not, he's not bad. He's moreover... a stupid old man."

Looking in her face he somehow got the feeling she expected something like that and chuckled softly.

"Well, I'm happy having a... partly normal dad." She said and stopped by an alley. "Well, I have to enter this alley to get home. See you tomorrow, Ichigo."

Eliza flashed him a brief smile before she turned to enter the alley. Ichigo only raised his hand before he proceed to walk home, the picture of her smile in his head.

Ichigo made slowly his way back home, wondering how the girl managed to fill his thoughts. Soon he reached the Kurosaki House and opened the entrance door, the smell of food had filled the whole house. Ichigo got hungry smelling the food his little sister Yuzu was making.

Ichigo took off his shoes and then went to the kitchen to greet his little sister.

"I'm home." He said and Yuzu turned around, pulling her streak of hair behind her ear.

"Welcome home, Onii-chan. How was your day at school?" Yuzu asked, looking like she's in a very good mood.

"Like it always is. You seem to be in a very good mood, Yuzu." Ichigo said and his sister's face begun to shine.

"Yeah, I've got nearly eighty points in my maths test!" Yuzu clasped her hands and Ichigo smirked.

"Well done." Ichigo said and patted Yuzu's head.

"Huch, Onii-chan, you're in a better mood, too?" She asked and raised her eyebrows. Ichigo looked irritated at her.

"You think so?" He asked and Yuzu nodded.

"Yeah, you're not furrowing your brows like you usually do." Yuzu said and Ichigo raised his hand up to his eyebrows, noticing that he really didn't furrow them.

"Well, it's nothing." He said and made the same expression like he usually does as he made his way up to his room. "I'll come down for lunch."

Ichigo went up the stairs and opened the door to his room. While being alone his thoughts strayed off once again to Eliza who had smiled at him and noticed him getting confused over the woman since she was the only woman who could confuse him like this. Ichigo threw himself on his bed and put his arms under his head and watched the ceiling, trying to scare Eliza out of his head. Mostly it confused him why she looked this familiar to him, he couldn't remember meeting her before. As Yuzu called him to come down for lunch Ichigo shoo the thoughts away, concentrating on something else like the movie, he had saw not so long ago.


	4. The urban legend

******Chapter 4**

******-The urban legend-**

"Did you heard about the urban legend spreading around the town?" was the first thing Eliza was asked when she entered the classroom in her second week going to school.

"Which urban legend?" She asked surprised and raised her eyebrows as she went to her place, greeting Ichigo by sitting down. But Keigo didn't let go of her and put his hands on his hips.

"There's a famous urban legend lately, about a haunted building outside the town." Keigo said. "It's an abandoned asylum in which a lot of people were experimented on and killed. Now their ghosts are floating around there, seeking revenge."

"Sounds fun." Eliza said. She was too used with ghosts by now since she was partly working as a shinigami so she wasn't afraid of something like that.

"Are you crazy? This is freaking crazy out there!" Keigo said but Eliza only shrugged with her shoulders.

"You shouldn't listen to what he's saying. That's all a lie." Ichigo said behind her and she looked around to her with a ironic grin on her lips.

"So you don't believe in ghosts?"

She could see how Ichigo grimaced for a moment but then his expression changed into the one he does always have. Ichigo fell silent then and Eliza looked around to Keigo.

"If you want to test out that urban legend, why don't you go over there?" Eliza asked and Keigo stared shocked at her.

"I don't wanna be killed by ghosts, obviously!" He shouted and Eliza chuckled.

"Hm, I think I'll get over there." She said. When there still were some ghost she could perform Konso on them and if there was a Hollow she could defeat him. Besides Eliza liked haunted places since they were exciting. "Where is that abandoned asylum, by the way?"

"It's located outside west Karakura." Mizuiro said and reached out his phone to her, pointing with his finger at a point on a map shown there.

"Oh, I know this place. Wasn't it some weeks ago on _Ghost Bust_, that show of Don Kanonji, right?"

"You know Ghost Bust?" Asked Keigo and his eyes widen. Eliza nodded.

"I watch it from time to time... but mostly I think it's stupid because of Kanonji." She said. She could see that Kanonji was doing a bad job exorcising the ghosts who turns to Hollows. It was hard to stop him since he travels all around Japan and Kisuke tells her to swap the channels when Ghost Bust is running on TV since it pissed him off seeing such unprofessional work and Eliza always laughed then and to tease him she keeps the channel on. Eliza tried to remember the route from her home to the abandoned place while the first class was starting and Misato Ochi entered the classroom.

After school Eliza decided to go home before she would go and look if there was really any ghosts in that abandoned place, after all this would prevent from Hollows coming or them turning to Hollows. Eliza quickly put her stuff into the school bag and looked around to the table behind her but Ichigo had already left, he was one of the first to do so. She put her bad around her shoulder and then went off.

Outside she encountered Ichigo who was standing by the gate and looked up as she came closer, moving away from the gate.

"Have you waited for me?" She asked as he begun to walk next to her when she passed the gate.

"Well, not directly. I didn't wanted to go with Keigo and Mizuiro. They're both talking about this stupid urban legend the whole time." He said as they took the same way they use to go home and Eliza somewhat got used to walk home with him since they encounter each other while walking home.

"Aw, come on, I bet they only see some moving things and suspect it being a Poltergeist. I bet there's some ghosts which are upset to not return to the netherworld... or something like that." Eliza tried not to sound like a professional in this case.

"Do you like haunted places like this?" Ichigo asked and Eliza nodded.

"Well, I guess when you're able to see ghosts as long as you can remember you don't think of those things as creepy." She replied and looked up to Ichigo who only took a quick glance to her before looking away again.

"I guess you're right." He answered and she smiled.

"See? So I want to look if there's something exciting here." Eliza said as they reached once again the alley which lead to the Urahara Shop. "Well, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." She could see how Ichigo smirked for a moment at her before both of them turned away and continued going home. Some of her female classmates asked her if she doesn't found Ichigo creepy but actually Eliza had mostly the picture of a baby Ichigo in her mind and remembered the cute face he always did back then. Also now she didn't found him creepy, she was already used to people who looked gloomy, after all Jinta does the same 24/7. Eliza also noticed her being able to communicate with him more smoothly in these past days, better than in the first days after seeing each other again after fourteen years.

Soon she reached the Urahara Shop and saw Jinta and Ururu with brooms in their hands sweeping the ground before the shop.

"I'm back." She said as she pulled the door to the living room aside and Kisuke, who sat around the table, looked up to her.

"Welcome home, Eliza-chan." He said as she let her bag fall down and sat next to him. Tessai nearly instantly appeared and poured her some tea.

"Did you heard about that urban legend?" Kisuke suddenly asked and Eliza raised her eyebrows.

"You know of it, too? I've been constantly asked this the whole day over." She grabbed the tea cup and sipped on the hot liquid.

"Of course I do. I heard some of my customers talking about it. Seems like some ghosts are walking around there."

"I think they're only angered not being able go to the Soul Society so they throw things around and let people think there's a Poltergeist." Eliza said as she drank the cup empty. "I wanted to go there and look if I can do something."

"Hm, good girl. I bet you've completely integrated into the role of a shinigami by now." Kisuke said and Eliza looked dumbfounded at him.

"You let it sound like I have been only fooled around by now." Eliza said and sulked.

"Sorry for this." Kisuke said and patted her head. "Don't forget your Soul Candy so you can slip into the form of a shinigami."

"I won't." She replied as she stood up and went to her room to change clothes. She didn't liked it to run around in her school uniform all day like other girls do it. She grabbed a long-sleeved t-shirt and shorts out of the wardrobe and quickly changed into it. Then she took on stockings and took the Soul Candy Kisuke gave her a few weeks ago from the bedside table.

After doing the preparations Eliza then went out again and took on her sneakers.

"I'm going to come home soon!" She shouted as she went out and then made her way to make her job.

Once she was close to the haunted building she changed into her shinigami appearance and then hurried inside the building which was quite destroyed because of there was no one in a long time there. She could feel the ghosts as she went inside and changed into her shinigami attire.

"Stay here until I'll come back." Eliza said to her Gigai who nodded and then dashed off to the abandoned building.

For Eliza the work as a shinigami was an usual part of her daily life and it wasn't even difficult for her anymore.


	5. A vacation together

******Chapter 5**

******-A vacation together-**

The sun which shined through the windows which let and awakening Eliza know it's the day of the day; she will be traveling with her friends to her very first vacation without Kisuke.

She stretched in her futon and then sat up, yawning. Like it seemed she had woke up before her alarm clock.

"I guess because I'm excited." She muttered and then stood up. Eliza took a quick glance over to the suitcase which were full with her clothes. Two days ago she went to town and bought some new clothes and a swimsuit since the one she had was too small for her.

Eliza grabbed a tank-top, shorts and put them on before walking over to the living room to eat breakfast before going off to the airport to meet the others.

"Good morning." She said in a good mood and smiled while Kisuke straighten his hat and looked sleepily at her. He seemingly stood up early to tell Eliza goodbye and she could see on his face that he wanted to go back to bed as soon as possible.

"Morning. Nice to see you in such a good mood." He said and hid his yawn behind the fan he carried around.

"Sure I am, after all this is my very first vacation only with friends." Eliza said and grabbed the rice bowl. "And I haven't been in Okinawa for quite a while now. I bet a lot had changed there in the past ten years. Besides, I have to remember a few of these Okinawan words I've learned."

Kisuke smirked seeing her in such a good mood while Jinta only snorted.

"You're in such a good mood, it's totally weird." He said and earned a quick punch in his side from Eliza.

"Stop destroying my good mood! You're only jealous you have to work while I'm having a week off." She said and showed him her tongue before she continued eating breakfast while Jinta rubbed with a painful expression his side.

"Oh, Eliza-chan, don't forget to take your Gikongan with you. In Okinawa are Hollows and Plus, too." Kisuke said while eating slowly.

"I know. I've already put them in my bag." Eliza replied between eating and drinking tea.

"Good girl." Kisuke reached out his hand and patted lovingly her head.

After breakfast Eliza went back to her room and put the plane ticket into her pocket as she closed the suitcase and pulled it after her outside. The airport wasn't far away but she didn't wanted to run around with a suitcase behind her so Tessai would help her bring it to the airport where she has to meet up with her friends.

"Thanks for bringing my things here." She said as Tessai appeared and he nodded.

"No problem, Eliza-dono." He said as she grabbed her suitcase and then she walked off, inside the huge building. She could hear a plane flying away as she entered and looked around to find her friends. At this time a lot of people were here and she had a hard time finding her friends until she noticed the hair of Orihime and went over to them.

"Orihime, Tatsuki!" She shouted and both turned around. As soon as Orihime saw her she smiled.

"Urahara-chan!" Orihime shouted back and raised her arm to wave. "We're over here."

Eliza went over to the group and noticed Keigo and Mizuiro arriving, too.

"We're here, too." Keigo said with a huge smile. "Only Ichigo and Chad have to come."

"They should better hurry up, our flight is going in a half hour." Mizuiro said and then looked around, hoping to see their friend somewhere. The two also appeared five minutes later and were greeted by the group who had already gathered.

"You're nearly too late!" Tatsuki shouted and put her fists on her hips. "We have to hurry up!"

"Yeah, yeah. My family had prevented me from going." Ichigo said as an excuse as they all hurried to the passport control and then further to let their tickets be checked. As they were closer to boarding the airplane Orihime got more and more excited and seemingly nearly fainted from this but Tatsuki calmed her down.

"Stop freaking out. If you faint then you won't be able to come with us!" She shouted as they gave away their luggage and then went to the waiting room where the departing passengers waited for their plane to come.

"Have you got everything we needed?" Orihime asked Eliza and the girl nodded.

"Yeah. I went to buy some new clothes. The ones I had begun already to be too small for me." Eliza replied and smiled while looking at her ticket to see which seat was hers.

"What are you looking at?" Tatsuki asked and Eliza showed them the number.

"This is the number of your seat. There you have to sit." She replied as she saw through the window how the plane arrived and slowly came to stop. A voice told the departing passengers to make their way to the plane and so Eliza went next to her friends to the plane and searched for her seat which was in the front by the window and with a relieved sigh she sat down on the narrow seat. Next to her were sitting Orihime and Tatsuki, looking quite excited.

"First time flying with a plane?" Eliza asked and both nodded.

"The places are really narrow." Tatsuki said and Eliza smiled ironically.

"It had gotten narrower. The last time it wasn't this narrow." Eliza said and noticed Ichigo sitting together with Chad behind them, Mizuiro and Keigo were sitting in the next seats on the other side of the plane.

"You have to belt on." Eliza said as the stewardess walked around and checked if everyone was sitting right and having belted on.

"I'm so excited! It's the very first time I'm going on vacation and even to Okinawa, that's so special!" Orihime clasped her hand and Eliza smiled seeing her being excited and remembered her own excitement in the morning and how she had annoyed Jinta with it. The plane slowly took off and then turned around to fly south, towards Okinawa. After ten minutes already Eliza begun to feel tired, something which always happen to her in vehicles and she found herself dozing off in the seat although it was uncomfortable. She had around four hours before her to get to the well-known island. Eliza slid a little bit forward and closed her eyes. She hadn't got much sleep in the last night because of a nightmare. Usually she will get scared from them and Kisuke is the one who will calm her down then. Since ever she was very small she was a restless sleeper, not able to get a properly good night sleep, even when Kisuke was close and end up having only four hours of sleep or less. When she was little she always dreamed of Hollows which made her afraid and it got worse as she got elder, she saw the Hollows eating Plus and killing people and then how they ripped people apart and tortured them, confusing and scaring her, even now. So she stayed only half-awake although it won't help her much in getting less tired.

She woke up two hours later fully when Orihime shook her gently from the side and looked around to her.

"Mhm?"

"Do you want something to drink or eat, Urahara-chan?" She asked and Eliza noticed being thirsty and ordered something to drink from the stewardess who gave her the drink right away. She looked at the map on the display in the wall before herself and noticed that they had the half of the way to Okinawa behind them. Curious what the others were doing she looked around and found Keigo talking to an absent-minding looking Mizuiro and could hear Ichigo behind herself talking to Chad about something which may had happened in the past. Tatsuki next to Orihime wondered why her best friend was eating such weird food again.

Still being tired Eliza closed her eyes and lean her head against the window frame and relaxed.

Around two hours later the plane finally arrived at the airport in Okinawa and Eliza looked out of the window, seeing the beautiful teal colored ocean underneath the airplane which was slowly landing. It bounced a bit as the plane landed on the ground and then got slower until it eventually stopped.

"We're finally here!" Orihime said excited and looked out of the window, too, her eyes sparkling like the water in the sun.

"Yes, yes. Now get ready to get out." Eliza said as the stewardess told them to have a good vacation and then the door was opened and the people went out. Outside the heat hit Eliza, she had totally forgotten how warm it was here in this season as they made their way to the building to get their suitcases and then go to the inn. Kisuke told Eliza to made reservations in the inn they had been once since it was very good so Eliza took over making reservations and booked two rooms, one for the girls and one for the boys. The inn was also not very far away so they could go by foot there.

"I can't believe we're here." Keigo said and looked around in surprise, checking the whole place as if he tried to suck in the surroundings.

"Can we go to the beach?" Orihime asked as they passed the seafront which lead them to the inn. The building was built above the water and made in an old-fashioned Japanese style mixed with modern electronics. After they checked in the landlord showed them the rooms and told them about the meal times before he went off, leaving the three girls alone.

"Finally we reached the inn." Eliza said as she put her suitcase in one corner of the room and then fell down on the right futon which were laid out and stretched.

They said to meet the guys in ten minutes to go to the beach and Eliza opened the suitcase, pulling her new bikini out and went as the first one to the bathroom to change. Over the bikini she took on the clothes she had wear the day until now and then waited for Tatsuki and Orihime to change.

"I can't wait to go to the beach. I was only once swimming." Orihime said as they had changed and Eliza grabbed her towel and went with Orihime and Tatsuki to the guys room.

They already waited for them and together they went to the beach next to the inn where already a lot of people were. Smelling the breeze of the ocean Eliza spread her towel on one of the deck chair and with Tatsuki and Orihime went to the water right away.

"I've got a beach ball!" Tatsuki said and showed the loose ball.

"Give it to me, I'll blow it up." Eliza said and blew up the beach ball until it looked more like a ball than a flat cake and threw it up to the air before smashing it over to Tatsuki. The younger girl caught the ball and threw it then over to Orihime who got it against her head as she watched Ichigo in his swim shorts. Somehow it gave Eliza a weird feeling in her chest and furrowed her brows. Before knowing it she smashed the ball back at Orihime who got knocked off and fell into water.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Eliza said confused. She couldn't understand why she had acted like that and sighed while she continued playing with the ball until the boys came and splashed them with the water. Eliza tried to get away to get a short break but slipped and nearly fell. Instead falling into water her back bumped against something and she looked around, noticing Ichigo behind herself.

"You alright?"

Before she could answer Chad splashed them both which was more like a wave which swallowed them. Eliza coughed out the water she got in her throat and made then her way back to the beach and sat down on the place she had put her towel on. Eliza fell back on her back and closed her eyes while the sun shined down on her, she already had enough of the water and laid only in the sun to dry. Then she could hear someone coming closer and opened the eyes only to see suddenly two boys approaching her. She sighed, knowing what will come next as she glared at them, hoping it will let them go away again but they seemed to be quite fond of themselves. Eliza instead watched them with an unimpressed expression.

"Hey, you alone here?" One of these two asked and she shook her head, pointing especially over to Ichigo and Chad who were looking frightening enough to scare some delinquents in Karakura away. The two looked also quite shocked but still didn't wanted to move.

"I'm with them, they're really famous delinquents in the town we're coming from. Besides, go and hit on girls who are foolish enough to think you mean it serious." She said, making an expressionless face.

"You..."

They wanted to go on but Ichigo's voice interrupted them.

"What do you want from her?" The two guys looked around into Ichigo's cold brown eyes and winced as they noticed being shorter than the orange-haired boy. "Disappear."

The two winced again and then snort before going away.

"Thanks." Eliza said with a crooked grin and Ichigo shrugged, falling down on his towel on which a 15 was pictured.

"No problem. You're not going back into water?"

"Nope, I had enough water for one day. What about you?" Eliza asked and put her arms around her legs as Ichigo sighed.

"They're making some kind of competition. I'm too old for this." Ichigo said and Eliza grinned. Somehow a picture of baby Ichigo popped in her mind and as he thought he was cute she got a bewildered feeling, like it was weird thinking of him being cute.

******Editor's note:**

I obviously never have been to Okinawa so I only guess how it may look like and so I only write how I think how it may look like there. So sorry if it's not really correct.


	6. Visiting the Summer Festival

******Chapter 6**

******-Visiting the Summer Festival-**

After being on the beach for a couple hours the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon and turned everything into a red color.

Slowly they made their way back to the inn and as soon as Eliza, Orihime and Tatsuki were back in their room an employee knocked and looked inside.

"I hope you enjoyed your first day here. Do you want to eat dinner right now?" She asked and the girls nodded. The employee then put the food on the little table and with a bow went off again, closing the shoji door behind herself.

"It looks really delicious!" Tatsuki said, looking at the food. It was sushi, the right food for warm weather since it was cold.

"Do you know what we will do tomorrow?" Orihime said as the three girl sat around the table and took the chopsticks and begun to eat their food.

"I heard the Summer Festival is here again." Eliza said while taking a sashimi and putting it in her mouth. "It's a really cool festival, like a fair with a little amusement park." Eliza said and remembered how she went to the fair with Kisuke, holding his hand tightly so she won't get lost while they were strolling around the fair, buying several things.

"It sounds awesome. Let's go there tomorrow!" Tatsuki said with a wide grin.

"Yes, I do like amusement parks." Orihime said.

"But you only can go to the amusement park if you have ten festival tickets for each person." Eliza said. "So it will take some time to get them." Eliza said as they ate the food and then the employee knocked again, asking if they had finished.

"Well then, good night. I'll come tomorrow and give you breakfast." With this she took the empty dishes away and disappeared.

"It's already 10 pm." Eliza said surprised, checking her smartphone. "I wouldn't have thought it has gotten this late already."

She could see how her both friends yawned as they sat on their futon and crawled under the covers.

"We should get up. I bet Keigo will come in early in the morning." Tatsuki said as Eliza switched the light off and went then to her own futon next to Orihime's. She slowly dozed off and then slept in, fearing to have a nightmare again and being too scared to go back to sleep.

And as she thought she suddenly was in the middle of a field with nothing than white sand and a column. She then saw a weird guy who somehow looked like a mix of a man and a bat*. In front of him was Ichigo in a tattered shihakusho which made her feel surprised but then the man raised his arm and Ichigo got a big hole in the middle of his chest. Usually she wouldn't react to something like that, the last time she was shocked over someone's death in her nightmares was thirty years ago. But this made her heart hurt and she woke up and winced.

"Holy shit." She said, putting her hand on her head while noticing she was shivering. She tried to shook it off and stood up, going out of the room to get some fresh air. She went to the terrace which had some tables with chairs and a barbecue. Eliza went past them and then lean onto the balustrade, watching the water underneath the terrace. The breeze which was stroking her face made her feel better and she took a deep breathe.

"You cannot sleep?" She heard suddenly from behind and looked around, finding her orange-haired classmate standing there, one hand in his pants pocket. He was wearing a t-shirt and jogging pants, something she doesn't get to see everyday and she found herself blushing.

"Not really. I guess it's because it's so hot here." She replied. Eliza didn't wanted to tell him she had actually a nightmare and was too scared to go back to sleep, at least that she saw him dying through the hand of a hollow. Usually she would go over to Kisuke to calm down but Kisuke wasn't here so she has to find a way to calm herself down. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I have difficulty sleeping peacefully in unknown surroundings." Ichigo said and stepped next to her, leaning on the balustrade. "You're quite pale, you sure you're alright?"

Eliza touched her face in surprise, she hadn't noticed herself getting pale.

"Well, I had a nightmare, so..." She muttered and suddenly Ichigo raised his hand and patted her head.

"What are you doing?" She said as her cheeks redden and her heart skip a beat. Ichigo then noticed what he was doing and embarrassed he took his hand away as his face turned slightly pink and he looked away.

"Ehm... Sorry. I don't know why I did it." He said shyly and Eliza's eyes widen as she realized he did it unconsciously as if he tried to calm her down.

Eliza then heard music coming from the park which wasn't far away and she remembered that there should be the Summer Festival.

"I can't believe the festival is still going on although it midnight." Eliza said and looked around and saw the colorful lights of the festival between the trees. Ichigo looked then around to the lights, too and then back.

"I guess trying to go sleep by force won't help... wanna go to the festival?" He asked shyly and Eliza watched him in amazement for a moment before she smiled.

"Yeah, sure. But won't the others will get jealous because we're going to the festival without them?"

Ichigo only shrugged and crossed the arms before his chest.

"We will go tomorrow there so I don't care. We can't sleep and need so distraction." Ichigo replied and Eliza nodded.

"Right, then let's go before they'll close the stalls. I want to try some Okinawan fish again." She said as they went back inside and took quietly their shoes on before then leaving the inn.

"You know this place good, right?" Ichigo asked as they walked the now nearly empty seafront and then turned to the park while the music got louder.

"Well, I know some good spots my father liked and visited. I can show you later." Eliza said and Ichigo nodded.

"Sure." He answered as they then reached the reached the festival. The light were here brighter and shined in all colors and the salesmen yelled out what they were offering in the stalls. A lot of people were here at the festival right now and there were also a lot of couples, looking happy and a lot tourists from the western countries.

"What kind of festival is this?" Ichigo asked as they entered the festival and Eliza looked back to him.

"It's the Summer Festival, they're celebrating the best season for their business. Besides, it's luring a lot of people here like you can see." She replied and then saw a stall with grilled fish that captured her nose.

"Ooh, grilled Okinawan fish! Ichigo, do you want some, too?" Eliza asked, looking around to him.

"Why not, I bet it's tasting good if you like it." He said as Eliza then walked over to the stall and ordered two grilled fish which were pierced. The man was surprised about her being able to talk some words in Okinawan an gave her extra two large pieces and she returned to Ichigo then, reaching one of the pierced fish to him.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." He said as he took the fish and then the two went on, looking around the stalls. Eliza bite in the fish and the spicy but sweet taste with a hint of smoke filled her mouth as she looked around.

"Wow, it tastes really good." Ichigo said and Eliza smiled at him.

"See, I said it's good." They two ate their fish and threw the spit away and then went on. Eliza noticed some new stalls, mostly food and drinks or offering games.

"Oh, a shooting stall is there, too?" Ichigo asked surprised and looked over at the stall where the shooting sounds were coming from.

"Yeah, it seems so." Eliza said and could see in Ichigo's eyes that he wanted to try it out.

"Go and try it out. You should enjoy this, too. Besides, I bet you'll win." She said and then looked to the winning prices which are written on a piece of paper. "Look, if someone will shoot every target then he'll get the first price and these are tickets for up to ten persons for the little amusement park over there."

She looked at Ichigo and pointed over to the paper. Ichigo only took a glance there before giving 50 yen to the man and then grabbing one of the fake shotguns. He was quiet good in this, he took down easily five and then concentrated on the next one while Eliza felt like she should support him and told him he'll do it and then he shoot down the last targets.

"Oh, you've won the first price, boy. I bet you have tried to impress your pretty girlfriend."

Both turned red in an instant.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

The clerk laughed seeing both looked shyly as they tried to get the red color out of their face as the clerk gave them the tickets to the amusement park.

"Here you go. Have fun in the amusement park." He told them as Ichigo took the tickets and then both went off. Eliza noticed how her heart was pounding loudly as they went on and went past the amusement park which was also still open and she could hear screams.

"Let's go tomorrow with the others to the amusement park, yes?" Eliza asked as she saw how Ichigo put the tickets into his pants pocket.

"Yeah, lets." He said and together they walked through the street and went to some stalls. After some time Eliza noticed herself getting sleepy and tumbled over something and nearly fell but Ichigo caught her.

"You alright?" He asked and Eliza nodded. As she tried to stand up she felt a sharp pain in her ankle and bite on her bottom lip.

"Aah!" She gasped shocked and Ichigo looked worried at her.

"You alright?" He asked as Eliza crouched down and looked at her foot.

"I think I have sprained my ankle..." She muttered and suddenly she felt how her body took off as Ichigo scooped her up in his arms.

"Then let's go back to the inn. We should take care of it." He said which made Eliza be surprised that he cared about her.

"You don't have to, Ichigo." She said as he went with her in his arms back to the inn, glaring at everyone who were looking surprised at them. With Ichigo in his arms both get quicker to the inn and Ichigo sat Eliza down on the couch in the lobby and then went to take a cold cloth or something like this to make the swelling go down.

Eliza however still wondered why Ichigo did it and she turned red, thinking he would care about her.

Then her mind went over to the thing the clerk on the shooting stall said.

_Do we look like a couple while being next to each other...?_ She thought as she touched her swollen ankle and wondered why she wasn't concentrating on her movements, usually she would be able to avoid getting hurt.

"Eliza." She then heard and looked around, finding Ichigo there with a cold cloth in his hand. He went around the couch and then knelled down, putting it around her ankle.

"You really don't have to do this, Ichigo."

"I want to do this so be quiet." He replied and looked up to her, his ears slightly red and looked shy and embarrassed. Ichigo wrapped the cloth around her ankle and then sat down on the couch next to her.

"Thanks for going there with me, I think I can sleep better now." Ichigo said and smirked, which was rare sight.

"It's... no problem." She muttered embarrassed and then looked down on her foot which was clumsily wrapped in the cold cloth. Then she yawned and hid it behind her hand and Ichigo did the same only a moment ago.

"I think we should go to bed. We have to get up soon." Eliza said and was about to stand up as Ichigo then reached out his hand to her.

"Come, I'll help you." He said and put his arm around her and supported her to go up to her room.

As Ichigo and Eliza reached the shoji door to the girl's room Ichigo let go of her and opened the door for her.

"See you later then." She said and he nodded.

"Yeah."

Eliza hobbled into the room and then went straight to bed. She watched out so the cloth won't go off as she pulled the covers over herself and then fell in the first peaceful sleep since ages.


End file.
